This gun caught my eye and I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with it. The Mini-14 target. Less expensive caliber, low initial buy in, and high accuracy out-of-the-box make it seem attractive for a range toy. The thumb hole is a non-issue as I'm not buying it as a Californian.

The Mini-14 Ranch and Mini Thirty Rifles are designed to use either standardized
U.S. military, or factory loaded sporting cartridges manufactured in accordance
with U.S. industry practice. Always be careful to ensure you are using the correct ammunition for your rifle. See “Ammunition Notice” & “Warning -
Ammunition,” below.

zfields

11-30-2011, 12:28 PM

US Miltary spec ammo is ok to use according to the Owner Manual Pg 12.

The Mini-14 Ranch and Mini Thirty Rifles are designed to use either standardized
U.S. military, or factory loaded sporting cartridges manufactured in accordance
with U.S. industry practice. Always be careful to ensure you are using the correct ammunition for your rifle. See “Ammunition Notice” & “Warning -
Ammunition,” below.

...

Milsurps

11-30-2011, 12:28 PM

US Miltary spec ammo is ok to use according to the Owner Manual Pg 12.

https://ruger-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/_manuals/mini.pdf

The RUGER® MINI-14® RANCH RIFLES are offered in two calibers: the
.223 Remington (5.56mm) cartridge and the 6.8mm Remington SPC cartridge.
The Target Model uses .223 Remington cartridges only.
The Mini-14 Ranch and Mini Thirty Rifles are designed to use either standardized
U.S. military, or factory loaded sporting cartridges manufactured in accordance
with U.S. industry practice. Always be careful to ensure you are using the correct ammunition for your rifle. See “Ammunition Notice” & “Warning -
Ammunition,” below.

P12 "The Target Model uses .223 Remington cartridges only." Yup ! ;)

rjf

11-30-2011, 1:35 PM

Those are two separate paragraphs. The first one identifies Mini 14 Ranch rifles as available in .223 Rem and 6.8 Rem. The Target model is only available in .223 Rem. Don't use 6.8 in a Target Model.

The Mini-14 Ranch and Mini Thirty Rifles are designed to use either standardized
U.S. military, or factory loaded sporting cartridges manufactured in accordance
with U.S. industry practice

Milsurps

11-30-2011, 1:48 PM

You do realize that .223 Rem and 5.56 are NOT the same cartridge.
Belive what you want but to the OP use only .223 Rem in the Target model.

Flying Sig

11-30-2011, 2:55 PM

DO NOT run 5.56 in a Target model.

Dannicus

11-30-2011, 4:57 PM

Good grief! There is no confusion, yet you guys are going on as if someone's confused!:o

jcaoloveshine

11-30-2011, 4:59 PM

eh, for the price you can get an ar15 w/heavy barrel that can probably outshoot that gun in the long term.

the mini14 target model isn't heavy barreled throughout the entire barrel length, sort of compensates for it with the harmonizer. weird build design, would make more sense (but also cost more) to just add thickness to the overall barrel and get rid of the harmonizer.

Coyote Brown

11-30-2011, 5:11 PM

An ASI mini is a bad mofo. That shoots .556 .

http://www.accuracysystemsinc.com/index.php

jeffrice6

11-30-2011, 7:22 PM

Love my Mini 14!!! But for the price of the Target & not being for CA use, I'd have to say get a tack driving non-neutered AR. More often then not the AR will be cheaper, lighter and more accurate

captbilly

11-30-2011, 9:40 PM

The mini-14 design simply isn't optimized for accuracy. This is not meant to imply that one can not make a reasonably accurate mini-14 but it will require regular maintenance (more than just cleaning) to keep it on target. An AR-15 with a free float handguard and heavy barrel will stay accurate for thousands of rounds with no maintenance (well maybe some cleaning). I have a cheap AR-15 that will shoot 0.5 moa 10 shot groups (with match ammo) all day long, but my mini-14 never shot better than about 2-3 moa (10 shot groups). Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed my mini-14, but as a long time target shooter I sure never found it to be accurate.

Mike's Custom

11-30-2011, 9:55 PM

I didn't see anyone point this out but that Mini 14 is calssified as a AW because it has a detachable magazine AND thumbhole stock. You will have to settle for the Hogue version.

Yes, was going to mention this. Ruger Target is .223 only. If it were me, I'd get a mini that was 5.56 compatible, but that's just me. :) Target model Ruger mini is very accurate, from what I hear.

Cali-Shooter

11-30-2011, 10:11 PM

I didn't see anyone point this out but that Mini 14 is calssified as a AW because it has a detachable magazine AND thumbhole stock. You will have to settle for the Hogue version.

^ ^ ^ Not a problem. Read the bolded part in the original post.

This gun caught my eye and I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with it. The Mini-14 target. Less expensive caliber, low initial buy in, and high accuracy out-of-the-box make it seem attractive for a range toy. The thumb hole is a non-issue as I'm not buying it as a Californian.

There's just this one decent video I've found on it and it looks pretty good.

z89nJ5zA4bI

Dannicus

12-01-2011, 12:37 AM

eh, for the price you can get an ar15 w/heavy barrel that can probably outshoot that gun in the long term.

the mini14 target model isn't heavy barreled throughout the entire barrel length, sort of compensates for it with the harmonizer. weird build design, would make more sense (but also cost more) to just add thickness to the overall barrel and get rid of the harmonizer.

Kinda want to get something other than an AR at the moment. Done that.

I was wondering about that barrel. I heard that the barrel is the standard thickness under the handguard. Strange.

An ASI mini is a bad mofo. That shoots .556 .

http://www.accuracysystemsinc.com/index.php

They're really expensive, tho. I'd be able to build a damn fine target AR for that much, even tho I'm not a huge fan of them.

LoooongGun

12-02-2011, 5:29 PM

That's even mo badder than the Desert Eagle in .50AE! Where do I go to buy some of them .556 bullets?
An ASI mini is a bad mofo. That shoots .556 .